Kenneth Spencer Research Library

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created this series to provide a lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique items at Spencer. “That’s Distinctive!” is meant to show that the library has something for everyone regardless of interest. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, you can leave a comment at the bottom of this page. All collections, including those highlighted on the blog, are available for members of the public to explore in the Reading Room during regular hours.

This week on That’s Distinctive! I am sharing a book from our children’s book collection. The children’s book collection was founded in 1953 and has been built largely through gifts to the library. The collection consists of over seven thousand children’s books from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.

The book shared today, titled Tales of the Fairies, was written by Lewis Marsh and illustrated by Lilian A. Govey. Probably published in 1912, the book highlights fairy tales from various countries. Little can be found about the book online, but I stumbled upon it by searching terms for mythical creatures in the KU Libraries catalog. I chose to highlight this book over others for a couple of reasons. First, given the book’s condition, it is clear that it is quite old. Older books tend to grab my attention more because of the histories and stories they hold, both physically and metaphorically. My second reason was that the illustrations in the book are quite intriguing. The artistic style shifts from illustration to illustration, which adds variety to the book. Additionally, some illustrations are in color while others are grey and white.

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

This week on That’s Distinctive! I am sharing Not Paper by Peter and Donna Thomas. The book describes and contains paper-like materials that do not actually qualify as paper. It is “an adaptation of [the authors’] 1997 miniature book Almost Paper.” Spencer has copy #26 out of the 48 copies that were made.

A fun tidbit about Not Paper is that it is actually an artist’s book. According to Smithsonian Libraries, “an artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the structure or function of ‘book’ as inspiration—a work of art in book form.” The Oxford Companion to the Book describes artists’ books as “both object and concept.” The 1960s brought a surge of artists’ books throughout Europe and much of the US. For many, this is the time artists’ books became classified as a distinct genre. There is no true definition of what makes an artist’s book though. Both the definition and history of how they came to be are heavily debated.

I had loosely heard about artists’ books in passing but had never really encountered one even during my time at Spencer Research Library (though we regularly have classes that visit to examine them). One day when putting out a call for blog ideas, the topic of artists’ books came up via one of the catalogers here at Spencer, and I thought I would do some searching. That is how I stumbled upon this particular book. I found it interesting because of how it is stored and thought it was intriguing that it is bound in an accordion style. In flipping through the book and learning about all these materials that are not technically paper, it made me think back to fifth grade when we made “paper” one day in science class. It was a neat experience that has stuck with me since. My experience with finding this book has definitely made me want to dig deeper and see the different artists’ books we have in Special Collections.

You can find Spencer artists’ books by searching the KU Libraries online catalog in a couple of different ways. One option is to set the drop-down field menu to “subject” and use the search term “Artists’ books–Specimens.” Or, to get an even larger number of results, set the drop-down field menu to “any field” and use the search term “artists’ books” (in quotation marks) with the search term “specimens.”

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

Conservators often say that what draws them to this work is the variety – every day is different! Always something new to learn! Never a dull moment! In my role as special collections conservator at KU Libraries, I am fortunate to work on interesting items from all of the collecting areas within the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, and my day-to-day experience bears out the truth of those clichés. Each book, document, and object I work with wears evidence of its own unique history. Physical condition, materials, marks or repairs made by persons past – sometimes these features tell a clear story about the life an object has lived, and sometimes the picture is murky, fragmented, or confusing. In the new short-term exhibit on view in Spencer Library’s North Gallery, I returned to the subject of a 2016 blog post to explore the ways that a book’s binding might provide information about who owned the book and how it was used.

Spencer Library’s three copies of Thomas Sprat’s A true account and declaration of the horrid conspiracy against the late king, His present Majesty, and the government: as it was order’d to be published by His late Majesty are displayed in the first exhibit case. This book relates Sprat’s official account, as Bishop of Rochester, of the failed 1683 Rye House Plot to assassinate King Charles II of England and his brother (and successor) James, Duke of York. The horrid conspiracy, as we’ll call it, was printed in London in 1685 by Thomas Newcombe, “One of His Majesties printers; and … sold by Sam. Lowndes over against Exeter-Change in the Strand.”

After leaving Lowndes’ shop these three edition-mates embarked on separate journeys, only to arrive back together again in our stacks over three hundred years later. The books’ differing conditions and binding styles invite speculation about their adventures (and misadventures!) in the intervening years. The exhibit compares the physical characteristics and evidence of use seen on the three volumes and considers what these features might tell us about who owned them and how they were used. We cannot know for sure, but it is so fun to wonder!

In case two, we expand our examination of different binding styles to include a small selection of bindings from Spencer Library’s rare books collections. The display includes books in original paper bindings or wrappers from the publisher, books custom-bound for private owners in either a plain or a fine style, and others bound simply and sturdily for use in a lending library. Spencer Library’s collections are rich with examples of bookbinding styles across the centuries; this assortment of volumes represents just a fraction of the many ways that a book might have been bound either by bookseller, buyer, or library.

Check the blog each Friday for a new “That’s Distinctive!” post. I created the series because I genuinely believe there is something in our collections for everyone, whether you’re writing a paper or just want to have a look. “That’s Distinctive!” will provide a more lighthearted glimpse into the diverse and unique materials at Spencer – including items that many people may not realize the library holds. If you have suggested topics for a future item feature or questions about the collections, feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

This week on That’s Distinctive! I am sharing a sketchbook from the Papers of Lady Pauline Trevelyan. As noted in the finding aid, Lady Pauline Trevelyan (1816-1866) was a “writer, traveler, etcher, and painter of watercolors. She was also known as a naturalist and scientist.” Her collection here at the library holds mostly journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks. The collection consists of 69 volumes and one document case.

I actually first came across this collection when we had a researcher viewing it in the Reading Room. Otherwise, I am not sure I ever would have stumbled upon it. While I have not viewed the journals, the sketchbooks fascinated me because they are quite thin and all different sizes. Due to age, some of them are quite fragile. The sketchbook shared today is from Paris in 1863. This particular sketchbook is quite small (similar to a small spiral notepad) which makes the paintings that much more impressive.

To get a “taste” of Pauline Trevelyan’s journals, see the 2012 blog post “An Easter Pizza in Umbria, Italy in 1842” by former Special Collections Librarian Karen S. Cook.

Tiffany McIntosh
Public Services

I’ve recently hit 40 and so birthdays have been on my mind, and what is New Year’s other than another sort of birthday celebration? Birthdays have been a cause for partying and remembrance for a long, long time. They’ve been a way families can reinforce bonds, a way to celebrate public figures, and certainly a way to mark the time. As such, we’ve gathered a number of birthday related materials in our collections and in celebrating my own birthday, I’ll share a few with all of you! 

I can’t help but hope that the “Mr Jack” in question is the chicken in the center of the photo, but I suppose we’ll never know.

We also have some heavy hitters, literarily speaking: An invitation sent to William Allen White, at the behest of George Harvey, to attend the 70th birthday celebration of Mark Twain!

Continuing a trend of journalistic birthday items, we have a lovely collection of letters from Albert T. Reid, known for political cartoons among other things, to his grandson Leonard. This letter shows the sharing of gifts and building of birthday memories, even with those not able to be present. 

Strengthening the family aspect, we have a poem from the poet William Sotheby (1757-1833) on how gifts (flowers) are lovely, but that “Duty, Gratitude, and Love” are even more precious offerings for a parent’s birthday given that they grew from the parent’s own influence.

I love the physical detail of the document as well as the reflection present in the poem itself. Here’s a transcript I put together as I know the script is none too clear.

The Birthday Offering

Lov’d Parent! While these flowr’s we wreathe
To grace thy natal day,
And oer their transient blossoms breathe
Pure nature’s simple lay;
Oh view, unlike frail bloom of flow’r
The heart that greets this blissful hour!

The blossom fades, the flowret falls.
There cherished duties grow,
Fond memore there the past recalls,
And thoughts that grateful glow:
And kind affections planted there
Spring up beneath a mother’s care.

These purer offerings deign approve
Lo! Duty, Gratitude, and Love.

– W.L. Sotheby

We have many more things as well: cake photos, party programs, letters, and more. We would absolutely love to be the inspiration for your next celebration! And Happy Birthday to me. 🎉

Shelby Schellenger
Reference Coordinator